Our Rebellion *Old Version*

Chapter 24

Damian POV

We stayed in Caleb's room for a couple more minutes before we went back to the common room. Wrapping paper was everywhere, and there was still some kids opening gifts. Some, including Grey and Jude, were sitting in other people's laps or cuddling. There were a couple, girls, making out in the corner, and when we walked back in all eyes were on us.

The basket that we had brought was still full, but it was in the center of Jude and Grey's circle. We made our way over to them, me sitting on the floor next to Myka, and Caleb laying across a beanbag chair.

"What are we waiting for?" Caleb asked them.

"You guys." Alis replied. He grabbed presents and passed them around to their rightful owners, sitting back next to Myka, a little closer than before. Hayden opened theirs first, and their face lit up with excitement. It was a necklace with a charm on it, using the colors of the non-binary flag.

"Thanks, Myka. It means a lot to me." They hugged each other, and Myka went to open his present next.

"So, this is rectangular. Do I have any idea as to what it is?" He said sarcastically. We all laughed, and he turned to Casey. "Which one? Is it Simon vs. The Homosapien Agenda?!"

"Just open it, you dwit." He laughed.

Myka ripped open the paper and dramatically threw it behind him, his face exploding with a smile when he saw the cover.

"Where did you find this?!" He held it up for all of us to see; it was a framed picture with a signature. I recognized the photo, it was Troye Sivan.

"My cousin's girlfriend went to Vidcon, and she got to meet him, and he signed a few things for her, those being one of them."

"Thanks, Casey. Now my present to you is going to be shit." This made all of us laugh. I felt fingers at the nape of my neck, sending goosebumps down my body. At some point Caleb sat up, and he was playing with my shirt and running his finger along my hairline, making me shudder and lean back into him. I was resting against his legs, so he put both his hands on my shoulders. It felt nice.

"It's not going to be shit. Here, let him open it." Alis laughed as he tossed Casey a large parcel.

"You give me a Yuri!!! on Ice sweatshirt and you think that it's shit compared to what I got you! Are you insane?!" He immediately took off the sweater he was wearing and tossed it aside, slipping the sweatshirt on and hugging it. "It's the best! It's the best scene too, when they kissed!" I was starting to worry for Casey, his mouth looked like it was going to fall off due to the excessive smiling.

They were going back and forth between who got the better present for each other, while the rest of us made a silent agreement and continued to open our presents. Alis was next, this was from Myka.

"Oh my god! This is great!" he choked out while laughing so hard. It was a pack of fifty chap sticks, an inside joke between them.

"Okay I guess I have to explain. We were in Walgreen's getting some snacks and stuff, when he says that he used to eat chap stick when he was a kid, and his favorite was the chocolate flavor. I didn't believe him, so he bought like, twenty little chap sticks and for the next three months he would take a bite before school. It was great."

Jude and Grey made gagging noises while the rest just said how disgusting it was. "Calm down, I spat it out right after." Alis helped the situation by three percent, earning a charming comment from Jude.

"THAT'S WHAT THEY SAID!" Him and Grey erupted in childish giggles, probably laughing until their sides hurt.

"Charming." Caleb said. He stood up moved the bean bag chair back to the corner before saying, "I'm going to go help in the kitchen. Damian, care to join me?"

"Sure." I got up and followed him out of the room, into the hallway, where it was empty.

The kitchen was empty for the most part, Charlie had just walked in after us.

"Come in here for a snogging? I'm not going to work with that in here." He walked over to the oven to check on the ham that was roasting. Satisfied, he turned around with a smirk, looking at the two blushing men standing across from him awkwardly.

"No, Charlie, we came to help. Stop thinking of such perversions and tell us what we can do." I was looking down and blushing, so I looked up with excitement when he said we could mash the potatoes.

Caleb handed me some to peel, as he was peeling a few of his own as well. Charlie had turned on some music that I didn't recognize. We weren't talking, and all of a sudden Charlie left the room.

"So, he's a character." I managed to chuckle out.

"Yeah, sorry about that. He always was that...type."

"How old is he?"

"Nineteen. I'm three years older."

"Have...have you two always gotten along?"

This made him chuckle as he grabbed another potato and placed the previous one in a bowl. "I mean, not like you and Jude. We weren't  as close until I graduated high school and moved to university; he got into a huge fight with our parents and came to live with me for a couple of months." He looked up suddenly, looking around the room as if he was listening to footsteps. "I made him move back when he had to go to school, though. Eventually, I moved back with my parents for a year because dorms were so expensive. That was when Casey was having troubles, so we decided to open this place up."

"And..and your parents were okay with that?"

"They weren't really keen on us taking in complete strangers, but when they understood everything, they supported us. My dad owns his own clinic a town over, so he gave me some stuff for our little nurse station and my mom found us furniture and stuff. Nothing too grand, just a couple of old beds, but it was such a big help."

This made me smile. "That's awesome that your parents supported you guys. I'm really happy that they did." I put my completely skinned potato in the bowl grabbed another one. He put his down, wiped his hands quickly, and wrapped his arm around my waist, side hugging me.

"I am too." He kissed my temple, which made me blush. It was soft, not like any other people's lips that I've kissed, which, honestly, wasn't that many. Only one, but that's for a different day.